wonderful & intriguing plotline! =) Hope you can continue this; don't leave me hanging!

"Guilt hit him hard, like a monstrous wave of bitter cold water, threatening to drown him."

-

I like that sentence a lot!

*waves* Sorry it took me so long to get over here! This is a cute story, though. I like how you deal with the idea of Meryl's father. Very nice little ficlet! *does a VxM dance*

Yeah, I totally agree. It's hard not to wonder why she carries that pink suitcase with her. Great idea to explore it! Feel free to beat me to death, but there were a few small tiny little things I noticed...

-- a better view of what may be under all of the junk. (may be should be might have been)

-- His eyes were caught in a flash by (?) tiny, thoughtfully folded paper tucked into the corner. (It seems like the word 'a' is missing.)

-- his fingers were unfolding before (Where he's opening the note...I think this is supposed to be "his fingers were unfolding it"...)

-- "I like it better when you smile like that" (Punctuation is needed inside of the dialogue here.)

*beats self over head with noodle* Sorry for rambling. Keep up the great writing!

*hugs*
-Alaena

This was a surprising fic. I expected a funny light hearted story, but the irony of the Pink suitcase was quite interesting. For once, dear, I personally think you could have fit more into this story to make it longer, but I love it nonetheless. I also find it very ironic that Meryl carries around a pink suitcase across dry lifeless Gunsmoke. Vash's comment was great too. He's not the only one with losses, and in reality, we all have remorse that is kept away- not necessarily always out of hurt or forgetfulness, but hidden away with some kind of reverence I think.

Very nice! I like how Meryl didn't blow a gasket when she found him in her room, a scene that most VM fic writers would probably be tempted to write. It's also nice that she didn't notice Vash's smile was fake, which is in line with her character. Poor Meryl...although, I'm surprised she didn't put a talcum powder and perfume bomb in her luggage to deter any tampering! ;)

This is really cute! I've always found in funny that Meryl, so self-decidedly not girly, would have such a pink, girly suitcase. :)